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Topic: BobaFett.com Evolution Discussion

Hi everyone,

I am currently discussing with Aaron concerning the possible evolution of BFFC as a website. I already sent him my ideas in emails, but I thought it would be useful to post it here as well so YOU the members, can bring your comments and suggestions. Many heads are better than one.

*Aaron, I hope you don't mind me pasting this here, I thought it could be useful if we got everyone's participation. They have an importance with this site too.

E-mail to BFFC Admin wrote:

Hi again Aaron,

Here I will try to express a few ideas that came to me.

Well first the Front Page appears to me as way too cluttered. And finding the Message Boards from there is way too hard unless you really know your way around the site.

First thing I'd do is make the access to the Message Boards more obvious from the Front Page since it's the main place most registered members head for. Maybe with a button or something. Not sure about pure CSS here.

The fonts used on the Front Page, as well as on some other parts, are too many and too different. Everything is a bit too big too. There seem to be loads and loads of text of all kinds, in all colors, it's a bit heavy for the view.

Can you gather statistics as of how much each element is viewed and visited by users? If so, you could see what's useful and what's not.

I'd remove most of all the links and features and classify them in menus, or find another way to remove them from the immediate view. I'd keep just the essential on the Front Page. I'd make the main topic of the site clear, make the most visited sections easy to reach, and remove everything else.

Maybe if you remove most of the stuff you can think about adding a layout which is a bit more on the graphic side without overloading the view. But not too heavy. Some users don't have a fast connection and they like the loading speed of your site.

Past the Front Page, there's all those features with each their pages. I would organize them and remove everything that's not necessary, reducing the fonts to smaller and cutting things to the essential.

On the whole website, I'd definitely add a background texture like I suggested a certain time ago. It doesn't matter if it's one of mine or not, but I'd put one so the pages look a bit less like they're resting on something empty. On just the grey background it looks a bit floating.

I am not sure about the huge Search button on the Message Boards page, which doesn't bring to the same results as the Search tool on the Chat room page. This seems to me as not very coherent, or not very clear.

I saw you added a light grey line around the chatroom, I am not sure about that. The chat room itself could be a bit better. It's very basic at the moment.

Not sure about where the "Sarlacc Bar" link is leading. The whole look of this part could be reworked. Also, the Log Out command doesn't work. When I try to Log Out, I need to close the browser window and open an empty one, then erase all temporary files and cookies if my daughter wants to Log In under her own name.

The links besides the Sarlacc Bar, on the red part, are a bit big, especially on the Chat Room page. I mean "Chat room, Mailing List, Message Boards..." and so on. Why is the link to the Mailing List so important? I don't think it's something people will use that often, it should be way smaller and elsewhere.

Everything I didn't mention is fine. I think the Message Boards are mostly well set the way they are, clear, easy to browse and very functional.

If you added a graphic layout to the main page, you could make it coherent by using it again on the other pages, including the Boards. Something not too heavy, maybe just a bar on top, and a thinner one as a recall at the bottom.

Or, if you want, you could have two versions of your site, with the same content. One would have a graphic layout and for the other you would keep the actual, and users could pick following their connection speed. It would be important to keep the same color schemes and similarities in the layout, for both versions, so users are not lost when they pass from one to the other.

I think that's it for the moment. I'd like to hear your own ideas on it. If there's any point you'd like to discuss further, I'm open. Whenever you have time and you feel for it.

talk to you later

Terra

Ok, now I'd like to have everyone's comments and suggestions about what was said here. If you agree, or disagree, if you have suggestions regarding any point, please say it. Aaron is the one who'll take any final decisions, but I'm sure he'll take your comments in consideration.

Hoping to hear from everyone!

.

Cast iron and treadmills? Oh yes. Still sculpting me to what I really want to be, and I love it. :)

Re: BobaFett.com Evolution Discussion

I like the boards the way they are. I like the site the way it is too, the background colors are nice. They're easy on the eyes. If it were red on black, for example, no one could see it, especially those with HD. If there were a background image it would make loading time much longer, and it would be distracting. I hate sites with background images (or a lot of images, like an imagemap linkbar thingie) because they're impossible to navigate. I don't go to sw.com anymore because of their big, bright, tons of images, and fancy stuff. Simple is better. If the site were to change it's background to something hard to see I wouldn't come here anymore.

Reality doesn't care if you believe in it.[url]http://www.townparkradio.com[/url] - Video Game Remix Music

Re: BobaFett.com Evolution Discussion

i had a chance to read over ur letter terra and i know that ur getting into the web design scene.so i thought u r comments were astute and i agree w/ them. if it is possible it seems too much info is accessible on several pages.chatroom since u brought it up has recycling news info, last posts (which i like.) but this is also on the first page.to find out who might be in the chatroom u have to go to the boards page...which is odd. i like the boards by the way they r clean and a few boards that i belong to- r busy and people have huge graphical annoyances in their quotes. so i like this.point being it is busy but i do like the fact that there is little to no flash animation to bog down loading etc.another observation is that the main page has imbedded videos in a few places on it. IMHO not really needed. i do think the revolving title banners r nice, news is in a good place. i think the image gallery could be reworked but all this takes time and i know how little we all have. drop down menus r great. sites r always evolving- if u see a site u like the layout of make a mental note and link it. as always i am on stand by for any graphical help i can assist w/and i have a few banners that r in mothballs right now, hopfully to be reveled soon

Re: BobaFett.com Evolution Discussion

I agree with a lot about with what you mention about the mutliple fonts, and the main page. The boards are what I use the most, and they seem clear enough. Perhaps a simplification of the main page would draw more fans in.Honestly, I happen to like the simple grey, black and red color scheme. They are some of my favorite colors. I've seen sits with simply too much backround textures and images, and I have found some to be too distracting and bothersome to my eyes to read somethings on the pages. They made it hard for me to want to go back again to tthe site.

I'm unsure about the problem with the log out button. I've used it at my old job on a daily basis and didn't have a problem. Although I will mention that was a few weeks ago. Things could have changed since then.

Meat is murder...... tasty tasty murder."Suggestion: Electrocution works well. Evisceration and Decapitation are also effective, or um, so I've heard."

Re: BobaFett.com Evolution Discussion

Thanks Sev Fett and Fett_II for your comments. Feel free to leave more if you have ideas coming.

Masterchief wrote:

Like on " BFFC Colours "

I'd like it if they were a bit more colourful. Black, red and grey are a bit dull looking, but that's just my opinion.

Also, more Games or polls in the news and games bit.

Sorry, if it seems impossible...

Green.

Hello Green, here we are discussing the layout of the page, its look and organization. I don't know about adding new content, but thanks for your suggestions.

Miba wrote:

I like the boards the way they are. I like the site the way it is too, the background colors are nice. They're easy on the eyes. If it were red on black, for example, no one could see it, especially those with HD. If there were a background image it would make loading time much longer, and it would be distracting. I hate sites with background images (or a lot of images, like an imagemap linkbar thingie) because they're impossible to navigate. I don't go to sw.com anymore because of their big, bright, tons of images, and fancy stuff. Simple is better. If the site were to change it's background to something hard to see I wouldn't come here anymore.

Never meant anything big or super flashy. A background texture is a filler, it's not there to get attention, so it might be similar to the exemples I am providing or even more subtle. It's a very small file (1k) which is repeated so it doesn't affect loading time. And if the layout is going to change, the color scheme already in use will be respected, it's a bit what makes the personality of the site. So no worries for seizures! There won't be odd colors. We'll keep it in the subtle tones that work here.

Cujo wrote:

i had a chance to read over ur letter terra and i know that ur getting into the web design scene.so i thought u r comments were astute and i agree w/ them. if it is possible it seems too much info is accessible on several pages.chatroom since u brought it up has recycling news info, last posts (which i like.) but this is also on the first page.to find out who might be in the chatroom u have to go to the boards page...which is odd. i like the boards by the way they r clean and a few boards that i belong to- r busy and people have huge graphical annoyances in their quotes. so i like this.point being it is busy but i do like the fact that there is little to no flash animation to bog down loading etc.another observation is that the main page has imbedded videos in a few places on it. IMHO not really needed. i do think the revolving title banners r nice, news is in a good place. i think the image gallery could be reworked but all this takes time and i know how little we all have. drop down menus r great. sites r always evolving- if u see a site u like the layout of make a mental note and link it. as always i am on stand by for any graphical help i can assist w/and i have a few banners that r in mothballs right now, hopfully to be reveled soon

Thanks a lot Cujo, your comments are very relevant and I agree with them as well. I am taking note of them. The Boards seem indeed very well the way they are and the plans are to keep them as close to what they are as possible. No huge graphical annoyances in perspective, and I don't think Aaron plans on adding any Flash animations. A lot of sections need reorganizing and some cleaning.

I plan indeed on making a research of several websites and retain those of which the style of layout is compatible with BFFC and good looking. The plan is to stay close to what BFFC is, but improve the layout a little.

It's very cool of you to offer your help, I know your talent as illustrator I suggest you email Aaron directly with your suggestions, banners or others. Or you can paste them here and he'll eventually take a look. I told him about this thread.

Si Titran wrote:

I agree with a lot about with what you mention about the mutliple fonts, and the main page. The boards are what I use the most, and they seem clear enough. Perhaps a simplification of the main page would draw more fans in.Honestly, I happen to like the simple grey, black and red color scheme. They are some of my favorite colors. I've seen sits with simply too much backround textures and images, and I have found some to be too distracting and bothersome to my eyes to read somethings on the pages. They made it hard for me to want to go back again to tthe site.

I'm unsure about the problem with the log out button. I've used it at my old job on a daily basis and didn't have a problem. Although I will mention that was a few weeks ago. Things could have changed since then.

Yeah if there's any background texture added it will be very subtle, not agressing for the eyes and not making the site too dense. We might try some and see how it looks, if it really doesn't work we'll get back to the plain grey.

For the log out command, it's a problem I get when I use it from the boards. I never come here through the main page as user.

Thanks a lot everyone for your comments. Please add more if needed. My next step will be to browse websites and see what could be adapted to the site's style and color schemes and eventually come up with mock-ups for Aaron.

Hoping to hear from all if you come up with ideas, comments, suggestions or questions. Everything that is said here is taken in consideration.

Cast iron and treadmills? Oh yes. Still sculpting me to what I really want to be, and I love it. :)

Re: BobaFett.com Evolution Discussion

I have to be honest terra, I hope you dont use the texture that you had in the picture in one of your posts there. The one with white dots on black. It almost made me sick, i couldnt stare at it for long, lol. In terms of colors I think its fine here. Graphically I like everything because it is simple and not an eyesore. But yes, the home page is cluttered so that could be reworked. And I really want the chatroom cleaned up. The feature that shows who is in the chatroom was good, if it would automatically update without having to refresh the page that would be perfect. I would also like some new features for it. Just to spruce it up a little. But anyways ...good ideas terra.

Est Sularus Oth MithasI am a Role Playing Gamer, like my father before me.

Re: BobaFett.com Evolution Discussion

terra wrote:

Never meant anything big or super flashy. A background texture is a filler, it's not there to get attention, so it might be similar to the exemples I am providing or even more subtle. It's a very small file (1k) which is repeated so it doesn't affect loading time. And if the layout is going to change, the color scheme already in use will be respected, it's a bit what makes the personality of the site. So no worries for seizures! There won't be odd colors. We'll keep it in the subtle tones that work here.

I suppose that would be ok, but I still wouldn't like it as much.

Reality doesn't care if you believe in it.[url]http://www.townparkradio.com[/url] - Video Game Remix Music

Re: BobaFett.com Evolution Discussion

Valthonin wrote:

I have to be honest terra, I hope you dont use the texture that you had in the picture in one of your posts there. The one with white dots on black. It almost made me sick, i couldnt stare at it for long, lol. In terms of colors I think its fine here. Graphically I like everything because it is simple and not an eyesore. But yes, the home page is cluttered so that could be reworked. And I really want the chatroom cleaned up. The feature that shows who is in the chatroom was good, if it would automatically update without having to refresh the page that would be perfect. I would also like some new features for it. Just to spruce it up a little. But anyways ...good ideas terra.

Miba wrote:

I suppose that would be ok, but I still wouldn't like it as much.

Thanks a lot for your views.

Yes, the texture shown is still a bit too noisy. It was shown as an example, nothing's definitive at this step. As I said earlier, we might try options and if it doesn't work we'll leave it as it is. For new features and content it's really up to Aaron. I agree with you though, the chat needs a bit more flexibility. I am not even sure where I'm supposed to go to see who's there.

Cast iron and treadmills? Oh yes. Still sculpting me to what I really want to be, and I love it. :)

Re: BobaFett.com Evolution Discussion

Masterchief wrote:

Sorry, Cujo.... but what are mothballs?

I know about them and hear about them, but I never actually knew what they where....

( sounding like a noob )

Mothballs are like cotton balls, and you put them in places outside like the shed, or in the crawl space under the house, or around the garage. What they do is keep snakes out. I think they have smells in them that snakes don't like which makes sure they don't come near a place you just put them in. And you normally put them in places you don't go around often, which is why saying something has mothballs in it means you don't often touch or go near it. Because mothballs also smell bad to humans, I hate the smell. And apparently it's dangerous for children to be around them much, because whenever my mom put them out she made us kids stay far away.

Reality doesn't care if you believe in it.[url]http://www.townparkradio.com[/url] - Video Game Remix Music

Re: BobaFett.com Evolution Discussion

First, before anyone asks, I am not behind any of the recent changes that you've seen.

Aaron, I am still working on what you've asked from me. A logo, a header design and a layout for each of the pages. I've seen what has been done here and on the front page, and I think a lot of it looks better, but I still wish to show you what I'd come up with for those. I'll try to come up soon with the mock ups you wanted, but there's a lot of pages, and conception takes some time. Sorry if I appear as a bit slow. I'll send you my work as soon as it looks "done" enough for a first check-up. Talk to you soon.

Cast iron and treadmills? Oh yes. Still sculpting me to what I really want to be, and I love it. :)

Re: BobaFett.com Evolution Discussion

I like the search at the top. ...that's new right? I haven't just been not seeing it?

At first I agreed with Si that the backwards F was bad. Backwards letters are usually for kiddy sites. But then after a moment or two of staring at it I figured it out. The two Fs make a T visor symbol! That's actually kinda cool.

Reality doesn't care if you believe in it.[url]http://www.townparkradio.com[/url] - Video Game Remix Music